


Changes

by SorceressJewel42



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Legends: Republic Commando Series - Karen Traviss
Genre: Competent Command Structure, F/M, Jedi and Clone relationships, That's Not How The Force Works, This Is Not the Way, thats not how Mandalorians are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27417280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorceressJewel42/pseuds/SorceressJewel42
Summary: After a mission Atin meets a Jedi that begins a radical change in his perspective and she gets insight into the Mando’ad. But shadows loam over them all....
Relationships: RC-3222 Atin Skirata/ Vokara Che
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Graphic death and grief. This will probably be the only time this happens but we’ll see.

“Bomb! Hit the deck!" The call was instant and sudden. Atin quickly jumped out the way as did rest Omega and CSF to dodge the blast save for one...

"FI!" Nines yelled as his squad mate dived on the bomb blocking it with his body. A second later the explosion happened. He jumped up and...Oh kriff...

Atin started crying in his helmet tears flowing freely as he looked at the desecrated bodies of both General Kaim and Fi. Kaim got the worst of it being in literal pieces with his lekku slamming into the building with a sickening thud but Fi's torso had been blasted open like a rotten fruit with his entrails hanging out glistening in the sun. Atin didn't remember much after that mechanically going through the motions and neutralizing the enemy. Once things had settled down he found himself in his bunk with his squad-mates doing...Something. He really didn't find himself caring only that once again they'd lost some.

"Hey," Atin looked over and saw a Rutian Twi'lek looking at him sadly from the barracks entrance. "You lost someone?"

"I-" he hesitated before nodding. The being smiled sadly before sitting next to him. The Twi'lek, a female, from the looks of it, had a medic patch on her shoulder and from the look of her attire was a..Jedi...

"You...You're a Jedi," Atin said dumbly before realizing how just ignorant he sounded.

"Am I?" The Jedi gently teased. "I've never noticed. But getting back to the subject at hand. Did you lost someone back there?"

"My..my squad-mate Fi."

"I'm sorry," the Jedi said. "I lost my friend too."

"General Kaim?"

"Yes," the Jedi nodded her breath hitching. "He...he was my crèche mate and a good friend along with Voolvif. My name is Vokara Che by the way." She bowed her head respectfully to him in a way that made him mentally do a double take. "I'm a medical officer here and I was wondering if I could help out with grief counseling with that event and all. I've been told that I'm pretty empathetic...sometimes a bit too much."

Atin knew what most of the Cuy'val Dar thought of the the Jedi save for a handful. Most were distrustful with a few downright hating them. Some regarded them as meddlers while others as ignorant but well meaning. But aside from the fringe hateful ones like Vau most viewed them as opponents to be respected. But there some even few still that viewed them as keepers of the peace. But a grief counselor? That was a new one.

"You don't have to talk about it right now but when you do I'll be there," Vokara said with a smile as she made a move to get up.

"I..." Nothing absolutely nothing he had been told or taught had prepared him for this kind of kindness. Maybe, just maybe, Vau was wrong after all and the Jedi did care.

"I'd appreciate that thank you sir," Atin said. "Do you...you have time now?"

"Certainly," Vokara said smiling softly. "So Fi...can you tell me about him?"

"Ah well he was a complete goofball," Atin said with a rather strangled laugh. "He was a goofy man and dedicated to the men..."

He talked more and more to Vokara with her listening and offering her opinions on matters. Laughing at situations and jokes that Fi made was nice. In time she began to talk about Kaim. Atin then found out that Kaim was a kind man that liked Bith Jazz and liked to make goody dances to his favorite pieces dragging her, Yona and Voolvif into it when they got together. He liked to go to tea café called Shakil for the pastries.

"Hey Che," a gruff but gentle voice called before a Shistavanen male (perhaps that was Voolvif Monn?) poked his head in. "It's time to go. The funerals are coming up."

"Funerals?" Atin asked. He hadn't heard anything but then he'd been in a haze.

"Well yeah one for Fi and the other for...Kaim," his voice broke at the end rather like his did. Wait so they not only mourned him but Fi too? Did that mean that they mourned the loss of their comrades as he did...He had talked to Vokara slightly about his previous squads and was outraged on his behalf and well it was relieving to get that off of his chest while she'd spoken of the Jedi lost on Geonosis.

"Sir might I attend?" Atin stood up at attention. "I need no want to see Fi off. And Kaim too." He felt saddened that he didn't get to know Kaim and had a feeling that Fi would feel the same. Darman and Nines...it was hard to say considering that their trainer Skirata hated Jedi with a passion. Which of course now that he thought it begged the question of why he accepted a job for teaching them to fight or for that matter fighting in the Republic in the first place since that meant working with them a.

"What about the rest of your squad?" Vokara asked clearly concerned in a way that made him feel so comforted. "Won't they want to attend?"

"They...I honestly don't know," Atin said and it was true. None had made an attempt at making arrangements but then again they were Skirata's boys so they might well have something planned. But then again he wasn't supposed to be this emotional with Vau as a teacher and...Kark it.

"I'll go in their stand," Atin continued. The squad wouldn't like that but he figured that in the grand scheme it wasn't fair to make them wait for him to round up the group. He'd make his apologies later. "If you'll..."

"Of course," Voolvif said. "We'd be honored."

"Thank you," Atin's eyes filled again with tears but these were of gratitude. Vau was wrong which wasn't too much of a surprise given that he was wrong about a number of things. They cared.

The service was something else. The cremation was a new thing as well as the contemplative prayer that had followed. Now he, Voolvif, Voolvif's commander who was invited by Voolvif, Yona, a Bothan Jedi, and Vokara were sitting in a low end restaurant in the entertainment district. Atin was picking at his food while Jagan stoically drank a fizzy drink and Vokara, Yona and Voolvif quietly reminisced about Kaim.

"Sir."

"We're not on duty Jagan so you don't need to address me like that," Voolvif said looking at Jagan.

"Either case I have a question," Jagan continued on. Clearly this was a form of banter between them since Jagan didn't miss a beat. "When you say rejoice when someone enters the Force what does that mean? That we don't matter in the end."

"Such a philosophical commander you have," Vokara laughed softly that made Atin feel a stirring of something in his gut at that laugh.

"No, it means to use that they're with us in Force...their consciousness may be go but the essence of who they were in the Force remains," Voolvif explained. "For a more through philosophical explanation I'd suggest talking to Master Nu."

"Or Master Yoda," Yona added smiling. "He loves talking philosophy with others but beware he'll talk your ear off."

"Thank you sirs I think I will," Jun said his Aurebesh tattoos which spelled out hunter scrunching up as he smiled at his general and Yona.

"You like reading?"

"Yes sir I do," Jagan answered Vokara. "So of the troopers said my nickname should've been bookworm. I like Jagan so it stuck."

"It suits you, I've got a commander named, Surge and he's a handful. He wanted to come but the troops needed reorganizing since I'm shipping out soon for an Intelligence mission."

Atin stared at this display. He had minimal contact with the Jedi and clone relationships save for Etain and Darman which seemed off to him and his teams brief interactions with Kaim hadn't been too enlightened so seeing this was interesting. He...kind of liked it.

"So does stoic boy have something to add?" Voolvif said his teeth flashing. It took a second for him to realize that Voolvif was teasing him like Fi...

"Moonie don't," Vokara interrupted his train of thought. "That's what Fi used to do with him."

"What? Oh kark, I'm sorry," Voolvif looked contrite with his ears peeled back. "I didn't know."

"It's okay," Atin said smiling at Voolvif somewhat warmly. The fact he apologized for the mishap told him that the Jedi meant well. He honestly was liking the company more so. It made him feel like he was with his squad but different. His comlink went off shrilly catching everyone off guard.

"Excuse me sirs," he leaned over to afford himself some privacy. It was Nines' voice that came up when answered.

"Trooper," Atin mentally rolled his eyes at Nines attempts to sound like his trainer. It was something that he thought was a tad pretentious. "We're needed for a briefing."

"Are we going to get a mission?" So soon? He wasn't even finished mourning for Fi.

"Just some information specs for our new materials that have come in," Nines said. "The brass," there was a hinted of disgust at the word that Atin hadn't noticed before...had that always been there? Then again the brass was the Jedi so that might be why...come to think of it...perhaps he could as a few things before deployment.

"Yes sir I'll be right there," Atin said before shutting off the comlink. "Sorry generals and commander I need to go."

"Here," Voolvif held out his hand. "Give me your comlink signature. If you're not on mission and I happen to be the neighborhood we can hang out."

"Sure sirs," he handed over the comlink that was quickly typed in by all four of them. "I appreciate it." He turned and walked out much more comforted and happier the he'd been before. The Jedi did care and...He half wondered if one of the Generals worked for Special Forces because he'd like to see more of them.

Vokara watched him walk off sadden his departure. She was so satisfied that both Jun and Voolvif got along with Atin. Atin needed support and someone to talk to right now. It seemed to her at least that the squad had quite a few maladaptive methods of dealing with grief.

"Hey Switches," Voolvif said softly. "What you thinking?"

"Just worried about him," Vokara admitted. "his quad seems to have maladaptive characteristics of dealing with death."

"Given who taught them I'm not quite surprised," Jagan muttered.

"What do mean buddy?" Voolvif asked.

"Well sir he comes from a Omega Squad and well how to put this nicely?"

"Best if you just spit it out everybody," Voolvif advised. "Because I get the impression that this doesn't look like it's going to end well it either way."

"All right sir can't say I warned you a but a lot of them are trained under one man his name is Kal Skirata and to be blunt sir he hated Jedi," Jagan said embarrassed.

"Wait why?"

"Beats me sir. I honestly don't know what his beef is. I mean from what I've heard and been able to gather information wise he was picked up when he was a little kid by Mandalorians and raised in the Mandalorian society and...

"Wait, are you telling me that his parents had no say whatsoever?" Yona looked horrified at the concept.

"According to the man that's the Mandalorian way."

"I would go with a hard no. Sounds like that's a bit of a fringe element if you're gonna be honest. Because Mandalorians don't just randomly pick up kids like that. They either try to return them to their families or if there is no family to be found then they raise them," Yona said her researching nature coming to full force.

"Well he also mentioned that he was taken into an active of war zone at eight years old."

"OK That's a bunch of karking nonsense because I study Mandalorian history for history project and I remember it very well and let me tell you something sending an eight-year-old in a battle was not the thing in ancient days unless it was a desperate situation," Yona said her fur swishing with confusion.

"Well he did say it was THE Mandalorian way."

"Yeah maybe in his warped mind. You best talk to Obi-Wan about that. He has most of the recent information about it but to be honest I don't see how that's a thing," Voolvif shook his head in wonder. "At least at the very least you could argue with that are Padawans although being put out in the war are at least 14 which is considered the age which most people are apprenticed."

"Doe that mean he thinks the same of us?" Vokara visibly deflated. She'd gotten such a good repertoire with him and had found his company to be nice.

"No sir," Jagan shook his head. "if that was the case then he would've avoided you entirely or ignored you."

"Well that's a relief," Voolvif shook his head sadly. "Seriously what's up with that guy?"

"Who knows?" Jagan shrugged. "My theory was that he got on the wrong side of a war and saw a Jedi and ran scared. Of course that's just me."

"I feel pity for anyone with that kind of viewpoint to be honest," Vokara sighed as she drank her muja juice. "Although," she placed the drink down. "That does beg the question of who hired him if he hates us that much."

"...Iri Camus I think," Yona said shaking her head.

"That buffoon!?" Vokara shouted. "Didn't he leave the Order?"

"Something like that," Voolvif sighed. "Zey is on his way out for the looks of it too."

"Given his intelligence level it's no surprise," Jagan huffed. "No offense but Tarkin has been braying for his dismissal since that mess."

"Master Piell has been frustrated with him too especially since the fiasco with Qiilura," Yona said. "It's just a shame that the Seppies torched it not two weeks ago."

Vokara groaned at this. She remembered that mess. Firstly it was the last mission of Kast Fulier who'd decided to leave the Order after doing one last favor to Master Yoda and supposedly Etain was going to be reassigned...or choose whatever her fate might be. She's barely passed the Apprentice trials and like another apprentice she'd heard of, Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy, was not particularly talented in some areas of of the Force. However that's where the similarities ended. Scout while insecure about her position worked her hardest to be in the Order and frankly was rather inspiring in her ways. Vokara had to admit that anyone that chosen to be her Master would be blessed with a good pupil indeed. Etain from what she could remember in the creche was...not that. She was weak willed and very insecure in spite of the best efforts of the Masters...then there was the opposite end of the spectrum with Jusik...Kark that guy was irritating to say the least.

"Just be glad Jusik isn't in there..."

"Do. Not. Get. Me. Started. With. Him," Vokara bit out. "He's...not a very nice person and I don't like him."

"Same," Yona said her fur rippling with annoyance.

"Um what's wrong with him sirs?" Jagan looked apprehensive about that answer.

"He's a bit of self righteous moron," Voolvif said bluntly.

"I wanted say something stronger but it's not worth the bother," Yona said draining her drink as she got up from her chair. "He'll leave, he'll find some cause that'll catch his fancy and then he'll leave us alone. I know that's an awful thing to say but he's a jerk there's no way around it."

"Here, here," Vokara said lifting up her glass in agreement. "He annoyed the daylights out of me when I was a youngling. Kaim was the only one with enough patience to deal with him."

"Well Kaim is one with the Force now so we need to learn to buffer him," Voolvif pointed out sadly.

All three of them felt the weight of the loss of their friend keenly but Vokara did note that Yona nodded. She knew that she'd have to deal with him since he was one of the agents of the Special Forces now...something that didn't feel Vokara with comfort.

"Don't worry," Yona assured her placing her hand on her shoulder. "Ideally he'll be too busy to bother you with his faff and nonsense."

"And we'll be out in the field getting shot at," Voolvif quipped. "So no pressure."

"Take care of yourselves out there," Vokara looked at Jagan, Yona and Voolvif. "Please."

"Sure thing," Voolvif assured her. "We'll take care of each other."

"Sir, I'll bring him back in one piece," Jagan said giving her a firm look. "You can count on that."

"And I'm sure Surge will ensure my safety and I'll make sure he and the rest of the troops get back okay," Yona smiled as she began walking off. "Have faith the Force will provide."

"May the Force be with you all," Vokara said crying. Yona gave her a hug with Voolvif joining in. Jagan hung back unsure of what to do.

"Jagan, hug this woman on the double," Voolvif mock ordered the clone commander.

"Yes sir," Jagan said awkwardly but did hug her tenderly. "Ni malyasa'yr gotal'ur warye naba'a yaim. Ni srusala." Jagan muttered making Yona squeeze him tighter. Finally they separated going to their respective places. The war marched and they all had a job to do now.

Mando'a translations:

Ni malyasa'yr gotal'ur warye naba'a yaim. Ni srusala- I will make sure to bring him home. I promise.


	2. Lunch Discussion

The briefing was what he'd expected to being. Just a bunch of technical details that while interesting was a tad tedious and long winded. Nines had of course eaten it all up while Darman had of course stoically taken all of it in. Darman was odd like that. Atin waited until being properly dismissed before he headed back to the barracks to his own bunk. He looked at the comlink thinking about what he'd gone through. Across he heard Darman come in and then begin muttering Fi's serial number...oh right that Mandalorian thing.

Now Atin wasn't sure about the Mandalorian culture or at least the version that Vau subscribed too. There was just something sinister and wrong at least the way that Vau used it. He didn't exactly follow it for that fact in general. More like causally. He had a feeling he'd do it less so now that his preconceptions about the Jedi were soundly proven wrong...In fact he wanted to talk to Yona and Vokara both seemed to be knowledgeable about Mandalorian culture and he wanted to know more. He clicked on his comlink and called Vokara, he wasn't sure when he was shipping out so he figured he might as well take advantage of the opportunity.

"Jedi Healer Vokara Che," the voice answered his call. "Atin is that you?"

"Yes," he answered. "I was wondering when you guys would be available for...more questions like Jagan did...if you don't mind."

"Not at all, although I'm sorry to say that Voolvif and Yona have shipped out so it's just me now," Vokara said a slight apology in her voice. "Are you shipping out soon?"

"As far as I knew no."

"So when are you available?"

"I'm available tomorrow," Atin said. He figured that he'd give Vokara a chance to prepare or at the least time since she had a job to do as did he. "If that's amenable to you."

"Sure," Vokara said. "Where do you want to meet?"

"Um..." would the place they'd been before be a bit tacky? Probably considering the circumstances but he wasn't completely sure since his social interactions tended to be with his brothers and be military in nature...so where could they meet? Oh great now he was unsure of where to go. Why hadn't anyone told him how to socially interact now?!

You'd think that'd be essential since we're an intelligence unit...Kark now what?!

"You want me to suggest a place?" Vokara said cutting through his slight panicking. "I know of a few places in Coruscant that are nearby the barracks and are reasonably priced and fun."

"Yeah-yes," Atin said relieved that she'd taken the lead. "You got a name so I can find it?"

"How about I meet you at the front of the barracks and we can move from there?"

"That's good," Atin nodded before stopping himself realizing that she couldn't see him. Why in the name of all things sacred was he messing up like this? He wasn't supposed be flat footed like this. "I'll see you tomorrow at 1530?"

"Sure I think I can squeeze it in," Vokara said with a smile in her voice. "I'll see you then and if I get a bit busy I'll let you know."

"See you then," Atin said both relieved and happy as he turned off the comlink.

"Ner vod," Nines voice made him jump before turning to face his CO.

"Sir," He saluted him smartly. "I was just finishing a call sir. I am getting together with a comrade," he answered. He wasn't sure why he'd dodged the question but something in his gut which he'd learned to put a stake in was telling him that it wouldn't end well. So he evaded.

Nines exhaled sounding again like his former trainer...did that guy just want to copy him? "Alright," he said softly shaking his head. "Just go and..." He didn't finish instead turning and walking off without a word. Atin gave Nines a funny look as he walked away. He was going to meet someone that had been there for him and was nice to be with. What was the issue?

Okay this is just weird...maybe my get together with Vokara will be better...wait what do I say to her?!

Vokara waited at the barracks a bit earlier then intended but she did feel that it was necessary since she was readying herself to hold up the conversation since Atin was as nervous. Atin's nervousness was the be expected since she figured that he had a limited experience when it came to interacting with other people. Still it was quite...endearing in a way that he considered calling her to get together. Although she did wonder if he thought less of them due to being Jedi in light of Jagan's revelation to them.

"Sir," His voice cut through her introspection and she turned to see him approaching with a smile. "I'm glad you could come."

"It's a pleasure to be in your company," she bowed to him respectfully catching him off guard from the look on his face. Why wasn't he...Oh right Zey...What a moron.

Now that's not fair to Zey. He means well even if he's not very bright, Kaim's voice admonished her. She cringed inwardly but let it pass since she knew that she was still getting used to Kaim not being there anymore to play peacemaker and conscience to them.

"Well let's go," she said beginning to walk away from the barracks and into the main walkway. Atin quietly followed and she could feel his nervousness in the Force. She smiled before saying: "You can call me Che if that makes you feel better," Vokara assured him. "I want this to be comfortable to you so if you feel like saying sir just say Che. So have you seen the sights here?"

"Um...no...Che," Atin shook his head. "Huh...Kind of rolls off the tongue well enough."

"Your welcome, now as for those sites, I can't take you to all of them obviously but..." She smiled as an idea came to her. "We can do a little exploring. I can show some of the more local areas that aren't shown on the map if that's alright with you."

"Certainly si- I mean Che," he managed to swap the sir with the Che at the last second which meant that he was really trying despite the sir wanting to creep in. Vokara let the slip up go and instead lead the way towards a restaurant that was casual enough with smoothies...okay it was mostly because the food was good and the smoothies were something to die for. It was a nice to thing to have. Better then Qibbu's Hut...Which was an awful and painful pun for a restaurant. That fact was agreed upon by the locals who tended only to eat there if they had a no care for what went into their bodies even Dex's had more class to it and it was a grease trap as well...Like Master Kenobi who inexplicably liked greasy food despite it being awful for his health. It constantly baffled her how such a sophisticated being liked that food...Then again she was a smoothie junkie so she shouldn't talk.

"This is good," Atin commented uncertainly looking down at the menu. Vokara looked down and saw her favorites all aligned tempting her with their meaty tastes and fun textures. Still it was best to start him out on something rather mundane or at the very least basic.

"Do you want some recommendations?" She raised an eye ridge. "Because I can recommend the wrap. It's a bantha steak wrap with some vegetables with some rice. As for a drink there's a Rocris or Filzu that you could have or just water. I'm buying so you get to choose."

"I think I will do that...Thank you s-Che," he managed smiling at her. The settled into a silence which from the way Atin was squirming was uncomfortable to him. Now Vokara was trying to improve her interpersonal nature which admittedly was pretty poor especially for someone who was supposed to help out Rig Nema as healer known outside of the Temple as a nurse. She was studying to become a better one so was trying to expand her interpersonal relations...Which given she as well as her friends save for the recently deceased were very reclusive. Ah how the times had changed. The droid soon approached breaking the silence and her thoughts. They then ordered their meals from the droid that approached and flew off to fulfill them. Vokara steadied herself for more conversation.

"So," she said gently leaning back into the booth. "What is that you do with the team?"

"I'm the slicer Che," Atin said. "I work with machinery to help accomplish the mission...What do you do Che?"

"I'm a healer aka a nurse."

"So you patch up wounds and the like?"

"And take IVs and tell the doctors about things going on with the vitals of each patients."

"Surgery too?"

"I'm not a surgical nurse," Vokara shook her head her lekku shaking with Twi'lek disagreement. "I'm mostly an ER nurse and working on my therapy work."

"Wait so nurses don't do everything?"

"That's a common misconception...although with the idea that doctors can do everything which they can't."

"Why not?" Atin asked. "Fi..." he trailed off before continuing. Clearly talking about him was tough enough still but then again he had just passed yesterday as much as thinking of Kaim physically hurt still. "Fi was medic and he could do things. So what's the difference?"

"Well first off medic is a military term because the civilian terms is paramedics. What this means is that they can act within a protocols they can treat wound and start an IV. Doctors are the ones that make the protocol, make a diagnosis and treat a pathology. Like say...Someone has a stroke. A paramedic can make a guess what is going on, start the treatment, give out medicine and tell the hospital what is going on. A doctor is the one that orders the tests, confirms, contacts the surgeon so that they know what's going on. A nurse is the one that takes vitals, gives out medicine and does all of the busy work to make sure that the doctor can do the bigger things like dealing with the pathologies. However not all doctors are the same. There's the neurosurgeon that operates on the brain, a cardiologist who works on the heart, the EMT who knows the basics on how to keep you alive while getting to the hospital and whole host of other sub-disciplines in the medical field that make up the thousands of individuals practicing medicine."

"So...it's like being special ops, everyone is trained in the basics but there're specialties within it so that people can concentrate on the work they're assigned...Sounds...easy when you think about it. I mean you wouldn't send me in as demolitions that's...RC-1136."

"Exactly," Vokara nodded. Soon the droid brought them their drinks and she began drinking her fizzy concoction of Felzu. It was pretty good and very fruity which she liked.

"Sir...I mean Che," Atin spoke up looking from his drink. "I was wondering if you could tell me about the...Mandalorians."

"I can't say that I know much," Vokara sighed. "Yona, Master Kenobi and Master Nu are the experts on that subject. But maybe I've picked some off it up by osmosis so I can try to fill in some gaps. So fire away."

"Yes s-Che," he caught himself. "Okay...Are they all warriors?"

"No," Vokara shook her head. "There was a warrior class but not everyone was a warrior. There were artisans and other professions where a Mandalorian wouldn't even pick up a weapon."

Atin looked a bit stunned before leaning back sighing explosively. "That's...completely against what I was taught."

"I get that impression," Vokara said. "But I wonder if that means that you have a misconceptions about the Jedi along with this viewpoint of the Mandalorians."

"That they don't care for us and they're rulers that should be..."

"Wait, wait, hold on," Vokara held up her hand. "Since when?"

"Since well...the idea was you ordered us..."

"One Jedi ordered you guys and that was without authorization of the Council. Believe me we didn't just wake up one day and go: "Gee let's order an army!" That's not what happened."

"So...you aren't warmongers?"

"We're keepers of the peace," Vokara said carefully keeping her anger out since Atin was merely parroting a viewpoint of someone that either didn't know better or was a bigot. Either case it wasn't a good idea to get angry at him since he seemed to genuinely wanted to learn. "We aren't soldiers and most certainly didn't ask to go to war, the Separatists started it by attacking us when we mounted a rescue mission to save our own and a Senator from execution."

"That's...a legitimate grievance."

"It is," Vokara agreed. "Now," she continued. "I understand that there are legitimate grievances of the Outer Rim and Mid-Rim planets have with Core Worlds and the way things are run. They aren't wrong about corruption, the exploitation or the preference issues but the manner in which they went about it pales in comparison not to mention the war crimes that you yourself have seen them engage in. It devalues their arguments."

"Correct Che," Atin said straightening up. "I mean they hired mercenaries like Ghez Hokan."

"Oh...That man? Yes Yona told me about him. Evidentially he was kicked out a terrorist group for being too unstable. I and several of my colleagues legitimately think he was truly bipolar in a manic episode with a dash of sadism from what his behavior reported by others is to be believed."

"You're a psychiatrist?"

"I dabble," Vokara demurred. "Another Master named Maks Leem is the resident psychiatrist and mental health expert and she was the one that made that call."

"You've got a quite an extensive staff, Che," Atin commented.

"We're a pretty big Order...well not too big but enough that we have all kinds, mind we're not too many now..." Vokara trailed off as the thought of her Jedi brethren from Kaim to the ones lost in the arena.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," Vokara said thickly using the fizzy drink as cover while she gained a measure of control over herself. It just wasn't fair...Chankar Kim...all those Knights and Masters gone...She shook herself internally and returned to reality to see Atin giving her measuring look.

"What?"

"I...I didn't expect a Jedi to be...well I'm not sure of what Jedi could be. I've only met General Zey..."

She bit her tongue so her scathing criticism would escape her. It wouldn't do for her to bad mouth a fellow Jedi even if she was pretty sure that he had no business being in charge of Special Forces. Now wasn't the time or the company. With Yona and Voolvif, sure. Maybe with their commanding officers but not with him.

While she was looking forward to getting to know him badmouthing his superior however justified wasn't the way to gain his trust. It would make and she'd have to admit that it'd be a right assumption that she was petty and vindictive. Again she didn't care for Zey or for Jusik but she wasn't going to badmouth them. Not in front of Atin.

"And you..." he continued on unaware or perhaps wanting to make a point before commenting. "You aren't like anything I was taught or seen with General Zey."

"Order up!" The droid said cheerfully placing her meal down. Vokara having worked a long shift was frankly ravenous and after quickly nodding her thanks dove into her food with a gusto. She heard a snickered noticing that Atin was looking at her with amusement.

"Wha-" she swallowed some of the food...then realized how just how rather savage she looked. She quickly put down her food and wiped her mouth rather sheepishly.

"Sorry, long shift," she said with a subdued voice. "I didn't eat breakfast...so technically this is breakfast."

"S-Che I've gone without meals too, my trainer sometimes subjected us to that," Atin said somewhat awkwardly as he began to eat.

"You trainer sounds like a bit of murglak," Vokara commented flatly taking much smaller bite of her food. Atin snorted harshly.

"That's one way to think of it," Atin agreed. "He's the one that got my troop killed in training session. The only reason he didn't lose his job was because of a time crunch but his role was gravely reduced and he was forbidden from doing that again. Still didn't stop him from finding other ways to..."

"How did that happen?" Vokara interrupted. "Sounds like something I can imagine

"Fire exercise...he mixed in some bombs to make it more realistic...He...I think he deliberately made sure they were strong enough to injury and possibly die...which is what happened to my squad."

"And the Kaminoans allowed it?!" Vokara yelped.

"They didn't," Atin shook his head. "I mean after the first death training idea was shoot down by one of the head Kaminoans with the backing of Fett most didn't engage with that because they knew their paycheck was on the line. Some trainers, namely Vau, Priest, Reau...for some reason they thought since they all had in with Fett would got a free pass on stuff like that...They didn't and the only reason Fett didn't shoot him was because it was an accident. The ones intentionally doing that were shoot in front of their trainees." After that and another incident that I don't know the details of people fell into line. After that things were pretty much smooth until Geonosis."

"That was a mess for all involved. I'm sorry that your squad suffered that lose," Vokara with a sympathy meant.

"Sounds like you lost a bunch too...that's...Did you have their names?"

"Yes they're names are written why?"

"There's...there's a tradition Che among Mandalorians that I've heard of that if one recites the names of the dead it's a way of honoring them...and I want to do that."

"Two hundred Jedi is a long list," Vokara commented as she drank another sip of her fizzy. "But I can arrange it."

"Thank you Che," Atin said.

"My pleasure now let's eat. Your food is going to get cold and I have more to show you. We can talk more along the way," Vokara dived back into her food. With small laugh Atin went to his food as well. Vokara couldn't wait to show him more of the planet she called home...and if she played it right she'd get a shake and a ftajra as well. Win win for all.


End file.
